Rigby woman sentenced to 15 years in prison for possessing sexually explicit images of minors

POCATELLO, Idaho – Elizabeth Dawn Evans, 28, of Rigby, Idaho, was sentenced last Friday in U.S. District Court to 15 years in prison for possessing sexually explicit images of minors, Special Agent in Charge Brad Bench of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle Field Office and U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ordered that Evans be placed on supervised release for ten years following her prison sentence. Evans pleaded guilty March 6, 2019.

According to court records, on Feb. 26, 2018, state investigators responded to allegations of child abuse at a residence in Jefferson County, Idaho, where Evans resided. A subsequent investigation discovered that Evans’ boyfriend had produced child pornography using a minor. Investigators obtained a search warrant for Evans’ electronic devices and discovered images of the sexual abuse taken on her phone. In court, Evans admitted that she took and possessed the images.

At sentencing, Judge Winmill also ordered Evans to forfeit the cell phone used in the commission of the offense. As a result of her conviction, Evans will be required to register as a sex offender.

The case was investigated by HSI in Idaho Falls and the Jefferson County Sherriff’s Office.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office partner to marshal federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about HSI’s child exploitation mission, please visit https://www.ice.gov/predator.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.

For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”